Today started off very foggy to where I used the radar to see so I would not run into the other boats out on the lake today. During the foggy morning, the Kokanee bite came very quickly and we had a nice 14″ Kokanee before I was able to get all the rods fishing. Within the first half hour, we boated 3 Kokanee and lost 2 others. Then I made a bonehead decision and wanted to check out the area that was hot last week. The rule is, don’t leave fish to go find fish. Wasted a half an hour going to check the area out as we did not get a bite or see very many Kokanee. We returned to where we first started catching fish and soon boated 2 more fat Kokanee where we saw another boater who said he heard my report over the weekend and wanted to try his luck. I asked him what he was using and he said hoochies. Guess he did not listen to the whole report because the hot bait has not been hoochies.

We covered the area in front of Jay’s cove pretty well and continued to catch fish. We were up to 8 Kokanee by the time the fog burnt off, then the bite really slowed down. My client asked me how long are we gonna stay fishing. I answered saying “till you can talk me into going home”. lol He said another half hour and he’s good. Well, I guess the fish did not hear that because the next half hour we boated 4 more fish, released 2 or the smaller ones and put on ice 2 nice fat 14″ Kokanee. Reeled in all the rods, cleaned the fish, and we were off the water by 11am. Right about the time forcasted for the winds to really pick up.

Top set-up was 4.25″ Rocky Mountain Tackle dodgers in Pink-n-Purple trailing a small Dick Nite spoon with ProCure Kokanee Special shoe peg corn

Trolling speed between 1.0-1.2 gps speed

Target depth was between 30-40′ deep

To get in on the Stampede Kokanee action, call Capt. James toll free 888-975-0990 or book online at https://fishtightlines.com

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Today started of very foggy and chilly at Stampede Reservoir. Okay, it was cold!! We started off todays scouting mission by trolling to all the usual hangouts but marked very few schools. Just a Kokanee here and there. It was slow and by 9am, the fog had burned off and we had 3 Kokanee in the box. One of them being a nice, fat 16 incher!!! We also lost a few fish. We then ventured out towards the dam to see if we could entice a Mackinaw to strike. Wasn’t long before we had a double hook up. Thought at first that the fish was snagged on the other line but soon they separated and we knew we had a double hook up. Both fish fought hard but one, by the way it was fighting, had to be a nice Mackinaw. We netted the smaller of the 2 fish to see that it was a beautiful hold over 18″ Rainbow Trout. And not long after that netted a nice 6 to 7 pound Stampede Reservoir Mackinaw. Now that we had 3 species of fish in the box, we decided to head back towards the launch ramp because the wind was starting to howl. We caught 2 more Kokanee and another hold over Rainbow on the way back. By now, there were white caps and it was getting rough. The wind was blowing perpendicular to the launch ramp and trailering the boat was gonna be a chore so we decided to head in with 8 fish. Just a little short of 2 limits.

Top set up today was a teardrop Goldstar glow in the dark dodger in pink splatter pattern trailing an Orange Radical Glow Tube with Pro Cure Garlic scent

Trolling speed was 1.5 gps speed

Target depth was between 15′ to 60′

To book a trip with Tight Lines Guide Service call Capt. James Netzel at 888-975-0990 or book online at https://fishtightlines.com

Today started off slow as we were on the lookout for schools. Marking a few Stampede Kokanee here and there and catching a few we continued to search in all our usual areas. Was getting disappointed because I had 5 clients on board and after 2 hours searching, we only had a couple Kokanee. Lost a few too. Started searching in some other areas and found a massive 300 yard long school. Ran through the school for 2 hours back and forth only catching a few. The rule is you don’t leave fish to go find fish so we stuck it out. Then around 10am, it was like the dinner bell rang. Doubles, triples, even a quad hookup. By 1pm, we caught 20 quality Kokanee to almost 16″. Most of them being in the 13-14″ range but fat like footballs. After 5 clients caught their limits and knowing that I was gonna be filleting fish for a while, we decided not to go for my limit. All the usual baits were not working very well which was very odd, but I was given a tip from another angler from a previous trip to try Vance’s Sockeye Slammer of which I have never used at Stampede. For all those that believe guides know everything, for todays trip, I learned a thing or two. A big thanks to Richie Hight for the hot tip. Although his location to find em was wrong! lol It sure did pay off. With all the information I give out, it sure is nice to get something in return.

Spent half a day on another clients boat as he hired me to teach him several techniques and a little on his Lowrance unit. We tried many techniques, most of them unsuccessful today. What worked for us today was a 3″ Berkley Gulp minnow behind a large ProTroll flasher. Trolling speed was 1.5 mph on the GPS down 40′ in less than 80′ of water. We were risking the shallower water with Shark cannonballs. There are bait balls all over the lake, mainly down 60-80′. What I was searching for were bait balls a bit shallower and we found a couple in the flats next to the dam. They were down about 20′. We tried them at 4 different depths and only the 40 footer caught one. What was not big numbers, a fat 22″ King made up for. This lake is unusually slow for this time of year but after talking to the biologist for this lake, I understand. Due to the drought and warm water, the American River hatchery was forced to close last year so they did not have the fish to stock the lake this year. A plant was made last week but it was smaller than normal and fish size was well below normal. This being a State Park lake, they do not purchase fish from private hatcheries. The biologist believes the plant of sub catchable Eagle Lake Rainbows and sub catchable Kings is still on schedule. We’ll hope that happens. To book a trip with Capt. Fishin James with Tight Lines Guide Service, click on the link www.fishtightlines.com or call 888-975-0990

Salmon fishing oct 4-12 Moved the boat out of the slip at Miller Park to my house to allow me to be more mobile and headed to Verona where I heard the fishing was better. It was. I went scouting on Saturday Oct 4th and got on the water about 7:30am. By 7:45 I had our first fish in the boat. Within 2 hours we had boated 2 fish and lost a hog. That was enough for me. Got on the phone and called my clients that were waiting for a good report.

Sun Oct 5 Took a father/7yr old son trip out and after a slow start, boated our first fish at 9am. Within 2 hours we had limits and then clients said they wanted to net a fish. So I got to fight the next one. By 11am, we had 5 fish!!!! Great day!!!

Mon Oct 6 Wow!!! All the fish that were holding the past few days are gone. We had a hit/no stick and that was all.

Tue Oct 7 Boated a nice 18 pound buck after first light then another fish lost after a short run.

Wed Oct 8 2 fish boated

Thur Oct 9 3 fish boated, 3 lost.

Fri Oct 10 Sacramento Bee reported that the fishing was red hot at Verona and I think all the fisherman in Sacramento heard that. It was a zoo out there. Must have been 50-60 boats. Looked like the Pacific Ocean with very rough water. Got the big skunk!!! Had a couple hits/no sticks

Sat Oct 11 5 other guides working the area today. Got a fish early and that was it. Heard of only a few caught.

Sun Oct 12 Forcasted to be a very windy day, I got a deck hand to help today. Boy was it windy. Probably 20mph sustained with 30mph gusts. 2 fish boated and 4 hit/no sticks

All fish caught on Silvertrons. Lots of hit/no sticks. Very unusual for spinners. Spinners have about an 80% hook up ratio but not this week. Trolling speed was between 3-3.2 mph down stream. Hot spinners were glow and blue with silver blades and blue with UV blades

Stampede Kokanee Fishing

Stampede Kokanee Fishing today. with Ben Stern took his two sons Cole and Luke on their first fishing trip. The bite was a little slower than it has been. The best part of this trip was the fact Ben was making this a learning trip for the boys. Not just about fishing but how to respect the outdoors. They learned only to keep what they were going to eat; Ben explained the whole circle of life in the outdoors to the boys. They watched a Osprey take a fish for lunch, the Seagull’s eat the carcasses of the fileted Kokanee. We also talked about the life cycle of a Kokanee. Ben plans to bring them to one of this years egg takes. They ended up keeping seven for dinner tonight. Our fish were all caught once again on Sep’s Copper Side Kicks and Radical Glow Pink Tubes tipped with pink Pautzke Fire Corn. To book a Stampede Kokanee Fishing trip with Captain Rick Kennedy of Tight Lines Guide Service click on the link www.fishtightlines.com or call (888) 975-0990.

Stampede Kokanee Fishing

We were back on Stampede Kokanee Fishing today after a few days on some foothill lakes. The water keeps dropping but the fishing is still great. The launch ramp is basically not useable at this point. Between the mud and the fact that it’s so shallow half your truck would be in the water to launch. The good news is there are several places to launch off the shore just east of the ramp. I was able to launch with two-wheel drive, but I would recommend using a four-wheel drive for sure.

The bite was steady all morning. The fish were scattered all over the lake and at all depths. The only fish we could get to take a lure were the ones at 30’. The deeper fish just wouldn’t hit. We started around 6:30 and had three limits by 8:30. Best setup today was a Sep’s Copper Side Kick with a Radical Glow Pink tube tipped with Pautzke Pink Fire Corn. To book a Stampede Kokanee Fishing trip with Rick Kennedy of Tight Lines Guide Service click on this link www.FishTightLines.com or cal (888) 975-0990.

Lake Englebright Fishing Trip

Lake Englebright Fishing Trip today, with Al and Jerry Silva. We started just outside the houseboats and trolled up river. It wasn’t long before we started landing nice rainbows up to 15”. After putting a half dozen in the box, we decided to take a ride up river. We dropped in and once again it was only a couple minutes before we hooked up again. After landing that rainbow the next two fish we landed were suckers. We decided to return back to the area we started at in the morning. The first pass we landed another nice rainbow. The next fish was a bonus 15” Kokanee. We ended the day with limits made up of two Kokanee one 15” and one 13” and the rest Rainbows. The Rainbows averaged 14” with a couple up to 16”. All our fish were caught on Watermelon Sidekicks and a half of nightcrawler. We caught fish from the surface down to 16 feet. Thank you to Nick and Lisa Rogers of Skippers Cove for their efforts with the pen project. Their efforts and paying off. To book a Lake Englebright Fishing Trip with Captain Rick Kennedy of Tight Lines Guide Service click on this link www.FishTightLines.com or call (888) 975-0990.

Lake Tahoe Kokanee Fishing

We fished Lake Tahoe today with John and Scott Harmer. We launched at Cave Rock and ran over to the South Shore in search of Kokanee. We found a couple small schools and landed a few up to 18″. I was surprised to hook fish from 30″ to 75″. The Kokanee were caught on Sep’s 4/0 dodgers and RMT Assassin Spinners tipped with Natural Pautzke Fire Corn. On the way back we stopped in front of Cave Rock and made a couple passes for Mackinaw. We landed one per pass on Glow spoons in 200′ of water. If you would like to book a Lake Tahoe Kokanee Fishing trip click on the link for more www.FishTightLines.com or call (888) 975-0990.

Stampede Kokanee Fishing

When we arrived at the ramp this morning we found that the water had dropped and one truck was stuck in the mud and another truck was waiting in line. I pulled the one truck out without a problem. The next truck launched and I also had to pull him out. Until today the ramp wasn’t bad. The good news, when we pulled out there was a backhoe working to clean up the ramp which should make it no problem to launch again. Note both truck that got suck were two wheel drive. Now for the fishing! Talking to friends that were already at Stampede Kokanee Fishing they said the bite was slower, however, as we left the ramp we started marking fish right away. We dropped in and started hooking fish. All but one fish today were caught on a Small Copper Dodger and a Radical Glow Pink Tube tipped with Pautzke Fire Corn. The fish averaged 13″ but were all good fighters. If you would like to to book a Stampede Kokanee Fishing trip with Captain Rick Kennedy of Tight Lines Guide Service click on this link www.FishTightLines.com or call (888) 975-0990.